Dawn doesn't know his birth date, his parentage, or his real name. His earliest memory is of a man named Keffya, who raised him from a tot and then when Dawn was six or seven (Dawn remembers it as shortly after he lost his first baby tooth), began to serve as his pimp.

Three years later, a thief stole Dawn from Keffya and sponsored him into the thieves' guild in Suzail. It was in the home of his mentor and guardian, Whistle, that Dawn met Dusk for the first time, and the two boys became fast friends.

From Whistle, Dawn learned magic. He discovered an aptitude for spells that bridges spaces, such as messenger and teleportation spells. A bit of a pyromaniac, Dawn also excelled at fire-based spells, more through sheer will than native talent. Dawn was also trained as an engineer, and is widely considered one of the more devious and careful creators of traps and pitfalls in the guild. Until he was a good enough mage to rely primarily on his magical talents, he earned his keep as a burglar.

Dusk was born into the Suzail thieves' guild, to parents who were married and deeply in love. Despite being mute from birth, he was an active and cheerful child with obvious potential to the guild. When he was only a few weeks shy of seven years old, his parents were both killed in a guild war, and Dusk was fostered into the care of Whistle, his parents' closest friend.

Some three years later, Whistle took a second apprentice, a shy pale boy whose only possessions were a host of horrifying memories and the street-name of Dawn. The two became friends almost immediately.

Dusk's magical talents leaned strongly toward illusions; even as a young boy he could craft intensely realistic and complex illusions. He also has a talent for scrying spells, and he's marginally better than Dawn at the creation of magical items. He took alchemy and herbalism as his nonmagical specialties, and has become a brewer of poisons and their antidotes. With this skill, Dusk still occasionally accepts work as a subtle assassin.

Dawn and Dusk have been friends since they met, and partners since they were officially inducted into the Suzail thieves' guild some ten or eleven years ago. About six years ago (1396 on the Hartopsian calendar) the pair left Suzail and came to Marsember, where they quickly established themselves.

Dawn remembers his years as a child prostitute with no fondness. When he can, he seeks out other children in such straits and buys or steals them free. Those with the necessary talents he fosters into the guild; others he places into orphanages that he trusts. A few years ago, a half-dozen or so of these children in the guild formed a street gang, calling themselves the Children of Morning. The Children are neither controlled nor led by Dawn, but they treat him as something of a mascot, and are often willing to run errands or bring him choice bits of information.

Recently, the Children have accepted into their number the boy Nip, son of Bienca Saberarrow, one of the guild's finest thieves, and a dear friend (and occasional lover) to both Dawn and Dusk.

Following the recent Guildwar-turned-Godwar, when the leadership of the Guild was turned over to Mace, the pair were assigned by him as his joint second-in-commands after several months' loyal effort as his bodyguards.